Bowleg disappointed country not hosting qualifiers

The second window of the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) AmeriCup 2022 Qualifiers is set to get underway November 27-30 with teams playing in a bubble – a protected environment for selected teams. The Bahamas was set to be one of those countries selected as a host but, according to reports, national restrictions prevented that, and Bahamas Basketball Federation (BBF) President Mario Bowleg is disappointed with the turn of events.

Bowleg said he e-mailed a proposal to the Ministry of Tourism back on September 9. He further forwarded the e-mail to Minister of Tourism Dionisio D’Aguilar on September 23. The deadline for submitting a bid to host the event was last week Wednesday and Bowleg said that he never received a response from the ministry.

“To this point, we have been back and forth with the Ministry of Tourism,” Bowleg said. “I was told that the information was presented but up to this point, we have not received any response from the government. I have spoken to the minister myself and I believe he would have made every effort to try and make this event happen. However, I cannot say what happened because to this day, we have not received a response.”

The Bahamas is in Group D with the United States of America (USA), Puerto Rico and Mexico. The other North American and Caribbean group is Group C, which includes the Dominican Republic, Canada, Cuba and the US Virgin Islands. The town of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic has been chosen as the host of Group C play. The Group D location is not yet confirmed, but there are reports that it will be held in Washington, DC.

“The Dominican Republic came up and said they want to get approval from their government to host Group C. That is such a big jump for them because speaking with their president, this gives them an opportunity to do what they were trying to do, which was to advertise to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) teams that they are capable of holding events such as Battle for Atlantis and other events that want to come here to The Bahamas,” Bowleg said. “They will be a great competition for sports tourism in The Bahamas because it is much more cost effective to go to the Dominican Republic compared to when you think about the expense to come on a trip here and the amount of money you will spend here in The Bahamas. I think with us failing to have the opportunity to host this event, that will open some serious competition for us moving forward.”

The BBF chief said he was looking at the Baha Mar and Atlantis resorts, which both have regulation sized basketball courts to be the bubble hosts. Both hotels were in favor of hosting the games on November 29 and 30. Bowleg projected about 250 individuals coming into the country for the event, which would occupy about 1,400 rooms, over a seven-day period that he believes would have been beneficial for the hotels and the economy at large.

“In order for us to host this event, even though the hotel would have been willing to, we still needed the support of the government and some financial assistance, which would have been in the range of about $150,000. That figure is a minimum amount when you think about opening up the economy and what the ministry would spend on advertisements to let the people know that the country was back open on November 1,” Bowleg said.

Bowleg said the door is open for other events to go to neighboring destinations and felt the price tag for The Bahamas to host the event would have been cost effective and proved to be beneficial to the country.

“It is very disappointing and it will have a negative impact on the country if we continue to lose these events to our neighboring countries who have the capacity to host as we can. Of course, it is more beneficial to come to The Bahamas because of proximity. Once the door is opened, who knows what can happen and we may not have the opportunity to close it back,” said Bowleg. “The cost for us to host would have been more beneficial for this country moving forward to not only jumpstart our economy but to keep people wanting to come to The Bahamas and keep these events in The Bahamas. It also would have helped to avoid us losing these events to neighboring countries.”

Bowleg said the qualifiers would have had a six-figure return for the country and would have put some persons back to work.

The Bahamas will have another chance at hosting group play in the third window of the qualifiers, which is set for February. It will also be played in a bubble. The Bahamas will play two home games against Puerto Rico and the USA. Bowleg looks forward to receiving support from the Bahamas government for that event.

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/bowleg-disappointed-country-not-hosting-qualifiers/